Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902-1931

The Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues

by Michael E. Lomax

Publication Year: 2014

As the companion volume to Black Baseball Entrepreneurs,1860–1901:
Operating by Any Means Necessary, Lomax’s new book continues to
chronicle the history of black baseball in the United States. The first volume
traced the development of baseball from an exercise in community building
among African Americans in the pre–Civil War era into a commercialized
amusement and a rare and lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurship
within the black community. In this book, Lomax takes a closer look
at the marketing and promotion of the Negro Leagues by black baseball
magnates. He explores how race influenced black baseball’s institutional
development and how it shaped the business relationship with white clubs
and managers. Lomax explains how the decisions that black baseball
magnates made to insulate themselves from outside influences may have
distorted their perceptions and ultimately led to the Negro Leagues‘ demise.
The collapse of the Negro Leagues by 1931 was, Lomax argues, “a
dream deferred in the overall African American pursuit for freedom and
self-determination.”

Title Page, Other Works in the Series, Copyright, Dedication, About the Author

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, baseball had been
a special game among African Americans. The black game’s institutional
development evolved as part of African American community
building in the pre–Civil War era. It was transformed into a commercialized
amusement by a generation of African American entrepreneurs
who attempted to work within the parameters of a biracial institutional...

Part One Independent Ball,1902–1920

1 Continuity and Change

On April 23, 1902, the Philadelphia Giants played the Camden City
club at Columbia Park, the home of the American League’s Philadelphia
Athletics. The Philadelphia Evening Item claimed the Giants possessed
“some of the best players in America [today], and were it not for the fact
that their skin [was] black, some of them would be . . . drawing fancy
salaries in one or the other big leagues.” The Quaker club broke the...

2 Black Professional Baseball’s Growth and Expansion, 1906–1907

Beginning in 1906, black professional baseball experienced tremendous
growth and expansion. Several black clubs emerged in the East to
challenge established teams like the Philadelphia Giants and Cuban X
Giants for players and gate receipts. Many of these new teams, like the
Brooklyn Royal Giants, were run by African American entrepreneurs
who epitomized the new black middle class that arose in the early twentieth
century. This black business and professional class left its mark in the...

3 Striving for Professionalism

H. Walter Schlichter sought to expand his infl uence in both black and
white professional baseball. In 1908, Schlichter became the manager
of the Philadelphia club in the newly created Union League. The Union
League was a minor league that operated outside of Organized Baseball’s
structure and was classifi ed as an “Outlaw League.” Club owners
within the circuit attempted to sign several star players like Ty Cobb ...

4 Years of Transition,1911–1913

The 1911 season marked the beginning of a transition in the ownership
of eastern and midwestern black baseball teams. Sol White left
the Brooklyn Royal Giants and became the manager of the newly created
Lincoln Giants. White assembled one of black baseball’s strongest
teams, and it dominated black and white semipro clubs throughout
the season. Turmoil among the Lincoln’s management team, however,...

5 Black Baseball and the Separate Black Economy

The rise of black professional baseball in the early twentieth century
occurred simultaneously with the emergence of black corporate America.
The period from 1900 to 1930 witnessed the rise of major black
capitalists who achieved millionaire status and established million-dollar
enterprises. Their wealth exemplifi ed their success within a black
economy that developed despite the exclusion of African Americans ...

6 The War Years: Toward the Rise of the Negro Leagues

The United States had never prepared in advance for the wars it fought. For a year after the nation entered World War I, it contributed little to the manpower of Great Britain and France, the unoffi cial allies of the US against Imperial Germany. On May 18, 1917, Congress enacted a conscription law that aff ected all able-bodied American males between ...

Part Two: The Rise and Fall of the Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues, 1920–1931

7 Pitfalls of Baseball: The Rise of the Negro National League

From November 1919 to January 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster made
his third, and most passionate, plea for black baseball clubs to organize
into professional leagues. Using Organized Baseball’s institutional
structure as a model, Foster called for a national organization of eastern
and western clubs to form into two leagues. He urged the club owners...

8 Black Baseball War: The Rise of the Eastern Colored League

Rube Foster’s series of articles at the end of the 1921 season undoubtedly
irritated his fellow club owners, many of whom could have assisted
him in the creation of a national organization. On the other hand,
many of the obstacles he highlighted surfaced throughout the 1922 season.
Franchise shifting continued, and Charles Mills’s St. Louis Giants
disbanded due to the apparently insurmountable debt the team accumulated....

9 Pursuing Peace

The Colored World Series of 1924 was a response to a supposed
demand of the fans and the black press and simultaneously became
the means to formalize a peace settlement between the two warring
leagues. Rube Foster seized the opportunity to seek a compromise with
the ECL commissioners. The Colored World Series did not realize the
large profits the black press had projected, but the event was promoted...

10 Caught in a Rundown

The problems that the Negro National League and the Eastern Colored
League confronted during the 1925 season continued to plague
both circuits the following year. Several changes were made to address
these obstacles at the annual joint winter session. They included a salary
cap and a ban on players who jumped their contracts. Rube Foster
continued to juggle franchises in his NNL and along with Frank Young
made the case for competent businessmen to own and operate league...

11 Before the Fall

Beginning in 1925, several members from the black press, a club
owner, and a prominent player-manager wrote a series of articles critically
assessing the inner workings of the Negro National League and the
Eastern Colored League. Some raised the familiar complaint regarding
the lack of league statistics, while others focused on the need for both
circuits to hire presidents who were unaffiliated with league clubs. Two...

12 The End of an Era

The 1930 season proved cataclysmic for the majority of eastern black
baseball clubs. The American Negro League disbanded, resulting in a
return to independent ball. Hilldale experienced another hostile takeover,
marking the start of the decline of Ed Bolden’s status as one of
black baseball’s most prominent owners. Sagging attendance led to a
call for the formation of a new league, although no action was taken....

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